An advert by General Motors, airing during the 2021 Super Bowl, claims that Norwegians buy the most electric cars in the world.Â
Despite the commercial featuring comedy actor Will Ferrell, electric vehicle sales in the Scandinavian country are no laughing matter.
Some three-decades of government incentives, along with major goals set by the Norweigian Parliament, has produced an electric revolution.
A true game-changing drive
The 1990s saw Norway remove and reduce import duties and taxes for electric vehicles. Special registration numbers were introduced in 1999, letting EVs gain free parking, use bus lanes, and not be subject to road tolling.
Despite the Norweigian government looking to phase out many of the leading EV incentives, sales have continued to boom.
The country also has the world’s most-ambitious plan to end the sale of internal combustion vehicles. By 2025, all new cars, light commercial vehicles, and urban buses sold will need to be zero-emissions models.
Leading the global pack
All of these measures have seen electric vehicle sales in Norway increase dramatically across the past decade. In 2010, total sales of electric cars stood at 722 units.
By 2020, this had increased to an incredible 76,789 electric cars. It meant pure electric models took a total market share of 54.3% of new car sales in Norway across the year.
Plug-in hybrids took 20.4% of the market, adding an extra 28,905 vehicles.
The Audi E-tron claimed the prize of Norway’s top-selling car in 2020, followed by the Tesla Model 3, and Volkswagen ID.3.
Punching above its weight
Given that the Nordic country has a population of just 5.35 million, buying over 105,000 electric and plug-in hybrid models in one year is considerable.
By comparison, the United States saw sales of around 325,000 electric and plug-in hybrid models during 2020. These accounted for less than 4% of the new car market.
The United States has a population 61 times greater than Norway at 330 million. Yet it sold barely more than three times the number of electric cars last year.
It means that Will Ferrell, General Motors, and other US manufacturers, have a long way to go in this battle. Â
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